“Our service is complementary to the existing subsidized public offering,” Kennel said.

Several "Gobee.bike" bicycles, a city bike-sharing service, by Hong Kong startup Gobee.bike, are seen on a sidewalk in Paris, France, October 9, 2017. REUTERS/Charles Platiau

Asked about problems in China with parking too many bikes in public areas, Kennel said Ofo is talking to authorities about optimizing the number of bikes.

The 16 million bicycles provided by Ofo, Mobike and other Chinese operators have caused chaos on China’s pavements, with thousands dumped in already crowded public spaces. Some Chinese cities have banned further deployments.

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On Monday, one of Ofo’s smaller competitors — Hong Kong startup Gobee.bike — launched a few dozen of its green dockless bikes in the Paris city center.

Founded by French entrepreneur Raphael Cohen, Gobee.bike plans to scale up to several thousand in coming months. Like Ofo’s bikes, Gobee’s are equipped with a GPS system and traceable with a phone app.

“I am very impressed with the innovation in bike schemes in China and I want to bring this to Europe, I believe there is a huge potential here,” said Cohen.

Unlike Velib, where the first half hour of cycling is free, Gobee charges 50 cents per half hour, but hopes that the ability to park the bikes anywhere will make it competitive.

Ofo and Gobee.bike are entering the Paris market as Velib operator JCDecaux is replaced by the Smoovengo consortium, which won a 600-700 million euro contract to run the Paris city bike sharing system from 2018 to 2032.